Public health
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The British NHS delivers health care free at the point of access to whomever needs it. It is often claimed to be the envy of the world. ⋯ We discuss resource distribution in health care, and apply the principles of health economics to the wider context of the delivery of health, rather than health care. With a background of rising demand for health care and rationing of resources in the UK, combined with inequalities in life expectancy related to position in society, we conclude that wealth redistribution, environmental regulation, improved nutrition and better education must come first in the priorities for achieving a healthy population.
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To explore the association between drinking patterns, irrespective of whether alcohol was consumed in the event of the injury or not, and different injury variables; and to identify settings and situations in which risky drinkers have an increased likelihood of injury. ⋯ Few significant associations between drinking pattern and injury remained when age and sex were controlled for.
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To examine the factors responsible for the rise in health- care spending in the United States over the past 15 years. ⋯ Most of the policy solutions offered in the US to slow the growth in spending do not address the fundamental factors accounting for spending growth. More aggressive efforts for slowing the growth in obesity among adults and children should be centre-stage in the efforts to slow the rise in health-care spending.
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A brief glance through the national papers and medical press shows the depth of concern with the cost of delivering high quality, free at the point of access healthcare to the population. However, at a time of increasingly greater demands being placed on public health systems across the globe, the question of how we can make health and healthcare both accessible to everyone and sustainable in the long term is being posed. In this paper we provide an insight into how England is responding to these challenges.